Due to the aging of the population, the expansion of adaptive diseases, etc., artificial dialysis patients are rapidly increasing. Although such patients' lives can be saved by dialysis, artificial dialysis cannot compensate for total kidney function, and therefore patients tend to have an increased risk of cardiovascular disease and increased mortality. Such patients also have great temporal and mental burdens, and in many cases, have difficulty returning to normal social life.
In addition, globally, there are approximately two million patients with end-stage renal failure demanding kidney transplantation, and due to the lack of donor organs, the number of such patients is showing an increase. Accordingly, end-stage renal failure is a serious medical issue.
In light of this, due to recent developments in regenerative medicine, it is becoming possible to form a kidney with the ability to produce urine or erythropoietin from stem cells (refer to Non-Patent Literatures 1 and 2).